by S A Edwards
The Mage engulfed in my flames lay on the floor, sweat glistening on his forehead.
Spears pressed against the neck of the other. His eyes were squeezed shut.
They stood at my mercy. They couldn’t deny me now.
I paused the growth of the ice, retained the oxygen at its low level, and raised my eyebrows at Kilkerran.
His frown failed to hide his surprise. “You’re more powerful than last we met.”
I grinned. “True. Though I didn’t come here to fight. I told you I have questions.”
Kilkerran’s gaze swept across the crowd. “Let them go.”
Kooja stood behind him, his dark eyes fixed on me.
“The Mage you took, what did you do to her?” I asked.
“That’s none of your concern.”
A growl cut through the cold from deep in my throat, and in the frozen wall ahead, my eyes transformed to mimic the glowing eyes of the Beasts. “Tell me.”
Kilkerran nodded at Kooja.
“I’ve got her locked away.”
“Alive?”
Kooja nodded.
“Bring her here,” I said.
He muttered something under his breath. In a burst of purple smoke, Kyra appeared beside him, pale and shaky, another Mage clasping her arm. Her wrists were red where she had been bound.
My neck grew hot, and I dreaded to think of how they had treated her.
Her eyes roamed over the scene, and magic tugged at me when she pulled on her gift, warming the area within her.
“We’ve done as you asked,” Kilkerran said. “Now, let them go.”
“Kyra leaves first.”
She staggered toward me, and I fought the urge to steady her. I wouldn’t show weakness in front of these people.
“What about you?” she asked.
“I’m not done here.” Drawing moisture from the air, I targeted her raw wrists, returning the wounds to pure skin. “Go on. Glacies will want to know you’re safe.”
With a confused frown, she sidled out the door.
My hands lowered, and the magic was drawn back to me. Flames leapt to life within the hearth, returning the heat, and diminished around the Mage.
A couple of men dropped to the side of the Refiner, and within moments, water swirled before the Healers.
Kilkerran gestured to the exit. “You had better come with me.”
44
Kilkerran led me through the narrow streets of the Intrigue to another small building. Sweeping aside the curtain, he slipped inside.
A single candle cast flickering light around the simple room. A shelf, table, two wooden chairs, and a bed stood against the walls, leaving little space to manoeuvre.
I sank on a chair. “This is how you live? There’s hardly anything here.” Although my life in my home village had been simple, too, I had more than this.
“This is a place to rest, guarded from the Seekers,” he said. “We rarely stay here long.”
“You mean the Seekers can’t find you here?”
He shook his head and drew out the remaining chair. The legs grated against the bare floor, setting my teeth on edge. “The Intrigue is protected,” he said. “Only those following the Perscripta can find it.” He ran his finger over an identical ring to the one he had given me. I hadn’t seen it before, and Tenebris’ words about it being invisible ran through my mind. “Now, enough chit-chat. What are you after?” he asked.
“I want to know how you became Corrupted. Did you commit a crime?”
His eyebrows rose. “Nothing so grand. I failed my test.”
“That’s it? You only failed? What happened?”
“What’s it to you?”
“I need to know.”
He plucked a fresh candle from the shelf and slid it toward me. “Do you mind?”
It sparked to life at my glance, and I held back my smile. Something else he couldn’t do that I could. The Council were in for a shock. “How can you be Corrupted for just failing the test?”
He flicked back his cloak, revealing the curving marks around his shoulder and forearm. “The moment a Mage fails, the mark sears their skin.”
I frowned. Just like that? “Does it hurt?”
“Like you’d never believe. The Elder accused me of not being able to control my magic properly and being a danger to others. Then they told me to go back to my village and live like a Mortal. I could use my magic but only in isolation. I could live in peace.” His expression twisted and darkened. “Peace was never an option. The moment the villagers saw the marks, they shunned me. Seekers criminalised me. No matter what went wrong, I was the one they blamed. Constant fear of the Seekers taking me into the darkness hung over me daily. No one should live like that.”
Now that I could relate to. “So, you left.”
“Too true. And it wasn’t long before they began the hunt.”
“And that’s why you fight against the Council?”
“It’s injustice. As if being shunned isn’t bad enough. After going a year with magic, experiencing all you could do, how could anyone go back to the life of a Mortal?” He jabbed his hand at me. “Could you?”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “Wouldn’t they let you retake the test?”
“You’re cast out the moment you fail.”
Irritation stabbed at my chest. That wasn’t fair. Corrupted meant evil. Nothing about his situation pointed to that. “What about the others?”
“The story is the same for many of them, but most refuse to return to Mortality, and instead, go their own way from there. Others use their gift for evil even before the test and are hunted from that moment.”
“Fine. Then we’ll leave some Seekers alive to catch the real Corrupted. But the rest –”
“Wait, you’re still on about going after them?” He grabbed the candle and stood. “It’s suicide.”
“No, it’s smart. And the last thing they’ll expect.”
“Unless you have a fool proof plan to stop them, you’re getting no help from us.”
My eyes narrowed. Even if I didn’t have a way, he would help. He couldn’t withstand another attack from me. “Their staff. They harness their magic from that. Without it, they’re vulnerable.”
“Really?” He rubbed his hand along his stubbly chin. “How interesting.”
“I’m surprised a Seeker among you hasn’t said this before.”
“There are no Seekers amongst the Corrupted.”
“What? None at all? How is that possible?”
He shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’m not one. So, how do we do this?”
“The Seekers are meeting at the Guild tonight when the moons are at their peak. You’re going to lead me there. We’ll ambush them.”
*
No one spoke to me on the journey to the Guild. The fear I’d instilled seemed to keep them from me. Only Kilkerran walked by me at the head of the company. He had given them the choice to join us. Many had refused, but despite that, we still achieved a satisfactory number of twenty-five.
The crunch of our footsteps on the forest floor disturbed the silence, until we reached the area where Zantos had appeared.
Kilkerran turned west.
“We’re heading to a village?” I asked.
His brow furrowed. “It’s not a village, exactly. There’s nothing of that sort for several eona.”
“But there are fields being harvested.”
“Fields? No, nothing like that. Just forest and the Guild and eonas of Seeker territory.”
I stared at the ground. Zantos had lied to me. Had he wanted to get caught? Was this part of his plan to find entertainment? None of this made sense. I had trusted him once.
The moons were high when we reached the Guild, and Kilkerran’s claim of no fields proved accurate. Huge, grey stone pillars ringed the outside of the huge building, stretching all the way to the domed roof. The symbol of the land – seven interlinked rings – had been carved into the rock above the arched entrance, and deep shadows f
luttered under the torch light.
Kilkerran signalled to the Corrupted to pause, and we both crept on together and peeked inside. The number of Seekers gathered were fewer than expected. Many would be out there hunting their targets. Including me.
My gaze fluttered through the darkness, almost expecting twenty such hunters to materialise from the shadows, staff in hand, but all I saw was my small group of twenty-five.
The Seeker whose staff I had broken stood amongst the hunters, the new staff in his hand. Anger boiled within me. The Dark Mage shouldn’t have helped him. He may have secured the destruction of another innocent person. But I wouldn’t let him.
“This is it,” I whispered. “We can do this. Aim for the staffs.”
Kilkerran gave the signal, and the Corrupted raced up a concrete slope and through the pillars.
Shouts of alarm and surprise greeted them.
I leapt over the low-rising wall, into the chaos.
Fire, ice, and water soared and swirled through the night.
Choosing a target, I stretched out my hand and sent frost blasting toward his staff. It snapped. The wood scattered across the ground.
The power fizzled back into the forest, and the surrounding magic tingled through me.
I smiled. “Easy pickings.” Sharp, lethal ice burst from my fingers toward his body.
The Seeker raised his hand, unprotected without his staff. The ice collided with his palm, shattered, and dropped.
I gawped at his unharmed hand. “Impossible.”
He threw me a smirk, eyes glinting.
A force pounded into my stomach, rocketing me backward. I slammed against a pillar. The air forced from my lungs. My legs crumpled on the stone ground. Rock and dust crumbled around me.
Clutching my stomach, I glared at my enemy, nerves churning at the thoughts of failure and death.
He closed in, sneering, hand still raised.
Staff fragments littered the Guild, but the Seekers’ magic prevailed. They blocked every attack with waves of force.
Purple smoke of the Corrupted billowed in their flight. Cloaks flurried through the exit. Bodies yanked back with the Seeker’s power, colliding with pillar and ground. Defence switched to attack. Predator turned to victim. Bodies lay still on the stone.
Kilkerran paused at the pillars. Face flushed, he glared at me, eyes dark. Then, he ran between them and disappeared from sight.
Seekers surrounded me, advancing.
All my planning, ruined. They shouldn’t have been able to use their magic. I would have won. I’d have beat them. But they could. And the Council would keep going, destroying the lives of innocent people.
I gritted my teeth. “No.”
Blue fire rolled from me in every direction, filled with the fury in my blood.
The Seekers’ power coursed through me, drowning me in their will. One emanated a stronger force than the others. His gift stabbed at mine, and my flames were blocked, their progress prevented by a wall impossible to penetrate.
I relinquished my hold on the flames.
In unison, the Seekers’ hands stretched out. The surviving staffs glowed.
Behind them, a figure raced into the Guild, brown hair wafting to his eyes.
Impossible. He couldn’t be here. How could he be here? “Charlie! Get out!”
He turned to my voice.
Purple light extended from the stone atop the Seekers’ staffs, twisting tendrils curling toward me.
My body froze, and panic tore through me at the paralysis.
The light reflected in the hunter’s eyes, and their mouths distorted into smirks.
Charlie’s eyes widened, and then he crouched, teeth bared, and leapt for the Seekers. Black fur burst from his body. The bulk swallowed his clothes. His face lengthened. Claws extended from huge paws.
With a blood-curdling roar, his giant form landed between them and me.
Their light touched him on every side.
He swatted it away effortlessly.
I gaped, heart thudding. I had seen this Beast before: in the forest, on the bridge in the Old City. But how could that have been Charlie?
Panic rose amongst the Seekers.
He embraced them in a storm of snarls and snapping teeth, knocking their frail bodies aside.
“Charlie,” I whispered, my chest numb.
They fought back, twisted away from his attacks, and sent waves of light at him. Some sent rocks flying across the Guild. The stones cracked on his body but didn’t slow him.
One of the hunters got past his claws, hand stretched toward me.
I focused on the water coursing through his body and drew it out.
His face paled. He sank to his knees.
Anger boiled inside, spurring me on. The Seekers had taken my life, my freedom. They hunted me, fought to destroy me. No more. I had the power. I was in control.
Something stabbed at my magic, forcing my control from him.
The Seeker collapsed.
“Stop!” The speaker stepped into view, pushing two of the hunters aside. A crystal, similar to those of Sil, Vitora, and the other Elders, hung round his neck. It glowed a light shade of violet and matched the colour of his eyes. His staff rested in one hand. His other palm faced me.
The stone atop the staff gleamed.
Charlie padded backward, allowing him a clear path to where I knelt, and his gaze met mine.
Sweat pooled on my forehead and neck. Charlie. My Charlie. I longed for the little boy I grew up with. My brother. Not this stranger. This Beast.
Tendrils stretched at me from the stone and the Seeker’s hand.
My body froze again.
Charlie watched, unmoving, while they wrapped around me and dragged me toward the Seeker. His magic coursed through my blood, drowning my own.
A bright flash obscured my vision, and then blackness closed in.
45
The scent of the woodland surrounding the Guild dissipated. Darkness pressed in on all sides. No sensation touched my skin, and only the thud of my heart and my erratic breathing reached my ears. “Let me go!” My scream faded into nothing. “I broke the staff! He shouldn’t have …” Use of their magic should have been impossible.
And Charlie. A Beast. He was only fifteen, which meant he was like Lena, the Preserver. A future Elder.
I walked in the silence of the darkness, unsure of whether I made any progress. Minutes turned to hours and stretched on until all sense of time ended and hope of escape disappeared.
Blinding light penetrated my vision. My arm trembled with weakness and shielded my eyes against the glare.
A strong hand gripped my arm. “Careful. The darkness is trying on one’s strength.”
The whoosh of waves sung in the night air, and the scent of salt and seaweed tingled my taste buds. Slowly, my eyes adjusted, and I focused on the speaker.
Cloaked, his drawn back hood revealed a mess of dark hair. His eyes held a shade of violet, matching the crystal round his neck. The stone atop his staff shimmered.
I gritted my teeth and shrugged away from his touch. “You trapped me in there.”
“I liberated you. Had I not, you would have killed the Seeker and joined the Corrupted.”
“They’re not Corrupted. They’re outcasts. They deserve justice.”
“Justice?” He stepped to a narrow window in the curving wall and gazed out.
The room was small and round, and the ceiling sloped to a point. Torch brackets dotted the walls, unlit despite the only light being streaks of moonlight through the single window. Wind howled in the rafters. A wave of my hand had flames dancing across the torches, and warmth flooded the room.
The Mage twisted back to face me. “Please refrain from using the other gifts here.”
“Where are we?”
“The Seeker Capital. I believe you saw the tower on the cliff from the shore by the Healer Capital.”
“That rickety thing that looked like it would fall at any moment?”
&
nbsp; “The very same.” He smiled.
“Are you mad?” My focus shifted to the wooden floorboards, half-expecting them to collapse.
“I assure you it’s quite safe.”
“Why haven’t you killed me?”
“Seekers have never killed you. They take you to the Council.”
“Then why –”
“I am Cupitor, Elder of the Seekers, and unlike the others, I know the truth of your alleged crime in your past. I am your ally. Your friend.”
I shook my head. “If you were my ally, you wouldn’t have left me in that awful darkness all those hours.”
He gave me a look of pity. “Clara, dear, you’ve only been in there a few moments.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It’s part of the punishment of being taken by a Seeker. It lengthens time, increasing the discomfort of the Corrupted.”
“I am not Corrupted.” My words turned guttural, almost a growl.
He slid his staff across his body. “You are on the brink. Had I not reached you when I did, you would be now.”
“You were the powerful one. It was you who forced me out. You blocked my flames.”
“I protected you from yourself. Taking the lives of the Seekers is not the answer.”
“They work for the Council. Without them –”
“They work for the land. For peace. For the protection of the people. Killing them won’t give you an advantage. It will only take your soul.”
I eyed the staff.
“Breaking it will do nothing,” he said. “It strengthens our gift. It doesn’t give it. How do you think Seekers are trained if they aren’t bestowed their staff until after their test?”
My fists balled.
“Your oath cannot be fulfilled with your mind twisting to the dark.” He raised his hand. Violet light curled from his palm and the stone atop the staff.
My heart leapt. “What are you doing?”
“You are going back to the darkness.”
I staggered. “You can’t. The Council needs to be stopped. If they harness the comets’ magic –”
“This is more important than your oath.” His light grew brighter.